Element Moving and Storage

10 october 2017, 17:43

The intention of this review: so that people understand this is one experience they need to take into consideration when taking the risk of signing with Element for your move. It will take 90 days for any compensation, a lot of paperwork, pictures, and storage of broken or even moldy items for who knows how long.1. Packing a 1 bedroom apartment took 3 men over 6+ hours when it was quoted to take 3-4 hours. I'm not sure why they decided to take 30mins to enjoy the view and take pictures from the balcony or take personal phone calls for 30-40 mins at the moving truck instead of overseeing the others as they packed our items. But obviously they had plenty of time on their hands. We didn't, as we had other appointments lined up to finalize our move out of the apartment.2. Movers made unprofessional comments of our valuables like a piggy bank that I had for years, which is now broken.3. Expensive item is missing and now they are claiming they didn't even pack the room that it went missing in4. Glasses, mugs, frames, mirror trays: all broken due to poor packing. Why would you put delicate wine glasses under heavy china or not protect mirror trays and throw them in the box with other heavy items?5. Large heavy wall mirror was broken because it was placed directly into a cardboard box with no protective blanket or covering.6. Large black picture frames have scuffed/chipped edges as they were also not protectively covered in the boxes7. Toasters and other small appliances and cases, as well as ceramic paraphernalia were dented and/or broken as they were thrown in boxes with other heavy items8. Contract included reassembly of items that they disassembled. But 5 of the 6 items were not reassembled. For example, dining table, entertainment unit, etc. The only item assembled was the bed.9. Water damage was visibly noticed on 2 of the boxes. Inside contents were cookbooks and catalogs that were damaged. Mold growth was noticed inside 1 of the boxes. We paid extra for 1 month storage. I guess we needed to specify that this storage area be dry?I have used other movers and have never witnessed such unprofessional packing service. Movers that came to pack had all the time in the world. Movers that came to deliver repeatedly told me that he had a busy day with many other deliveries, which is probably why they didn't bother to reassemble the items. $400 shuttle fee was charged because they stated that due to our overhead clearance for our loading dock, they had to reload the larger truck into a smaller truck. If that's the case, shouldn't the only items in the truck be ours and not other people's? I am not sure why there's a fee when they were already using for other deliveries.When asked for 100% all inclusive estimate, we were twice quoted for extra costs and fees during pick up and delivery. We paid everything in advance, before the delivery, so it felt distrustful to say we owed more money. These fees were removed but we had to call the office directly and complain, twice. Based on the other complaints I have read on Better Business Bureau, we will probably receive compensation based on what Element's insurance policy covers, which is pennies. On the other hand, we might not get anything as the packers are now stating they did not pack the bathroom items with the broken items even though it's marked on the inventory sheets as Company Packed. Why would we pack when we just paid over $4000 for full service packing and storage?

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:43

They moved me on October 2011. The bid was about $400 and I was accurate in my estimate of my 1200 sq foot house. Moved 15 minutes north and the final cost was over $900!! Elle has a lot of excuses for the company. The move took 9 hours bc they didn't have proper tools to break down 2 beds! They broke off the screen from my 17" monitor and scratched the center of my new $400 headboard. They sent someone to fix the headboard but the scratch is still visible. They sent me a check for $20 based on weight of the items. Elle told me it was in my contract. What a scam!! Do NOT use this company! Cheaper is not always better! Excuses, excuses. They don't care about the customer once they get your money. You have been warned. I shredded their check. I'll use 2 men and a truck next time.

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:43

What an amazing company! From start to finish, communications from Hollie and the ops team were top notch. The move came in under budget for me, and was done in right at 2 hours. Despite one piece of furniture being left at my original residence, Neftali and his crew were more than willing to help me out with retrieving it. Very professional, and very kind team all around. Thank you so much!!!

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:43

Based on the yelp reviews, I selected this company. They have nice crew locally. packing went well at the origin. They promised to deliver my furniture Sep 30 in California. I was happy to get my stuff and got an apartment and called them when they are going to deliver. They said your furniture is still in Texas and the truck had some problems! They did not call me and let me know about this before so I had to pay the rent and hotel for 12 days that they delivered my furniture.To make it short, they gave me a severely damaged items.  Thanks god that I purchased extra insurance, otherwise Element offered $12! yes just 60cents per pound only for items they packed. I managed to get $6500 through second insurance after a lot of hassle. Now you can see the size of the damage. For the missed item, they have to replace it by law but they make me to forget it. Their strategy is to make the customer to go back and force with them until you give up.By the way, another friend used their service. His experience was less dramatic  than mine but two bad things happened to them. First is that two boxes that have marked as "Crystal" went missing. (good point that not to write the valuable items name on boxes). Secondly, on the destination for delivery, they should hire local professionals, but the driver picked some random people in the street to help him (just to save some bucks). In general, I do not recommend Element for non-local moves. If you end up with them have them write up everything in the contract and get extra insurance.

review from yelp.com

10 october 2017, 17:43

I have moved a couple of times in the last year and never had a worse experience than this company. There are too many moving companies out there, just be sure to do your research, to even waste your time with Element. First, they did lose 3 boxes of mine, and understand that can happen, but the fact that they had no process in place to know where the boxes were lost and for that matter didn't even have their inventory list when they delivered the boxes upset me the most (Of course, I had my own list and was able to immediately tell they were missing). Even without them losing boxes, I would still rate them 1 star. The movers they use are unprofessional (numerous broken items), they hold you hostage with your stuff to extract extra payments, and I still haven't received any payments for lost items (over 6 months now). Their initial sales lady and distribution contacts seemed nice and mostly responsive, but don't let that fool you. Just stay away.

review from yelp.com